Grenadian Thanksgiving – Thankful for Freedom!
{Today, I’m pleased to introduce to you Sarah Hansen of sarahfaithhansen.com. Sarah and I went to university together and have since reconnected via facebook. I love her story of how she left a six-figure salary as a corporate-sales professional to save her marriage and follow her husband to “a new location… and life” in Grenada. When she mentioned a few weeks ago that they had just celebrated Grenadian Thanksgiving, I asked her if she’d be willing to share about it here with us in our Season of Thanksgiving. I have learned so much from this post, and I hope you will too! Enjoy!}
The memorial on the St. George’s University campus where the Grenadian Thanksgiving ceremony is held every year.
So, what do choppers, soldiers, and gunfire have to do with Thanksgiving? For most Americans, not a whole lot. In the U.S., Thanksgiving is the season of thanks traced back to the first meal in 1621 between 53 pilgrims and the 90 helpful American Indians who saved them. It’s changed a lot from that three-day feast almost 400 years ago. Now, it’s a time of football, turkey, family, and if you’re from the south like I am, deer chili and hunting tall tales of how the men bagged their big buck. (Disclaimer: I am a vegetarian, but I still get included in the stories.)
However, for the last few Thanksgivings, I have missed the family women buzzing around carrying large mountains of food, while kids wrestle on the floor underfoot, and the men groan in unison after a devastating interception from the opposing team. For the last few Thanksgiving holidays, my husband and I have been in Grenada, West Indies; a tiny Caribbean island about the size of Detroit and 268 miles off Venezuela’s coastline.
Living on a tropical island, while a wonderful experience, takes some getting used to around the holiday season. The sun is still blazing hot, the humidity stays high, and our home has no central A/C unit. Our oven has just one setting: “on.” The oven’s definition of “on” is full-on fiery furnace of death which erupts the second I hold my trembling hands to the gas spewing from its creaky jaws. It stands to reason that I don’t do much holiday baking. The oven is so hot that anything but a casserole becomes a black hockey puck on the outer core while the innards stay mushy. Also, the kitchen temperature rises to sauna levels, so no one wants to stick around. This Thanksgiving, I used someone else’s oven. Christmas music also just seems out of place without a fireplace or chill in the air, and the Christmas lights around the grocery store look a bit strange next to the sandy beach. So, for this fourth Thursday in November, we won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving, because we’ve already had it.
So, why bring up all that war stuff and try to tie it into a holiday like Thanksgiving? Because for Grenadians, that is what this holiday commemorates. The island of Grenada celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday on October 25th. It is in honor of the day when U.S.-led invasion forces overthrew the leftist New Jewel Movement in 1983 in response to a military coup’s deposition and execution of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop during Operation Urgent Fury. The battle for freedom cost lives. The U.S. forces lost 19 people, Cuban forces had 25 killed, and the Grenadian forces casualties included 45 killed, as well as another 24 civilians killed in the fighting.
A memorial near Point Salines airport
There is now a beautiful memorial on the campus of St. George’s University (pictured at the top of this post) in tribute to the sacrifice of those who died liberating the Grenadian people and saving the American medical students. The American and Grenadian flags fly proudly together next to the statue, keeping watch over the memorial.
Today the Grenadian celebration, just like our American holiday, revolves around food (although turkey isn’t favored over any other meat), family, and friends. However, since it is the anniversary of the battle, there is also a more formal and somber aspect to the holiday. St. George’s University has a ceremony at the memorial where the Grenadian Prime Minister lays a wreath on the statue commemorating the sacrifice of the lives lost during the invasion. People also attend a church service ceremony where the ministers and parliamentarians make an appearance in the service. The message is usually geared towards thankfulness and freedom.
The plaque at the airport memorial
Of course, the best part of any holiday for everyone on the island is time off of work to spend with their families. While many Grenadians choose a more traditional dinner at home, the beaches are also full. People gather around the grill roasting fish or chicken, while children play in the surf. It’s just another typical tropical day in paradise, and people enjoy the time with family and friends.
However, even though the American and Grenadian dates are different, and Grenadians don’t focus on eating all the turkeys on the island (honestly, I have yet to see an unfrozen, living turkey on this island), the spirit of Thanksgiving is still shared similarly within and between both countries. Because of the U.S.-led invasion force, Grenada is a democratic country, and the people here are free. And, as all Americans would agree, there are few things more deserving of gratitude than freedom.
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